Stocks Ended Modestly Higher, Oil Took Off

U.S. stocks ended modestly higher on Thursday, after another round of central bank and fiscal intervention to help economies rocked by the coronavirus pandemic. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 188.27 points, or 0.95%, to 20,087.19. The S&P 500 added 11.29 points, or 0.47%, to 2,409.39. The Nasdaq Composite gained 160.73 points, or 2.30%, to 7,150.58.

Oil prices bounced off their lowest levels in 20 years on Thursday, with U.S. prices scoring their largest one-day percentage climb on record. The front-month April West Texas Intermediate crude contract rose $4.85, or 23.8%, to settle at $25.22 a barrel. May Brent crude rose $3.59, or 14.4%, to $28.47 a barrel.

The Fed early Thursday announced the opening of additional, temporary dollar swap lines with central banks in an effort to address a global scramble for dollars, following an announcement late Wednesday of a new Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility, or MMLF, to assist money-market funds in meeting demands for redemptions by households and other investors.

The European Central Bank, in an emergency meeting, said it was launching a new program that would allow it to buy 750 billion euros ($820 billion) in government and private sector bonds as well as commercial paper.